Archer's Asylum

I'm one of the Potter Generation...I'm not even sorry that I loved this book.Review to come when I get home from work.*EDIT NUMBER ONE*Tuesday May 29Well, hello there once again fellow bookwormy type people. And first of all let me open up with a warning.I will not be using spoiler alerts. If you don’t know the story of Harry Potter by now, then you really have been living under a rock. If you do not like Harry Potter… I am warning you… Go elsewhere because you won’t like my review. I love this series. I first read this book when I was 11 years old and I regret nothing. NOT. ONE. SINGLE. THING.As for the myriad people out there who will undoubtedly be scratching their heads muttering “I thought the title was Sorcerers Stone”… No. Just no. That is all. Now shall we get started? I think I have all of that out of my system. I went into this with rose tinted glasses shall we say. But I quite quickly removed them and set the fandanna aside too. And then, for the first time in at least 5 years… I re-read Harry’s journey from Muggle to Wizard. And it has stood the test of time. This is the book series that, without shadow of doubt, was the brightest part of my childhood reading. I know it’s not perfect but I don’t care because it’s enjoyable. The characters are so well rounded and lovable it’s painful to actually put the book down. Honestly I cannot fault this book. I will be re-reading the rest over time. But right now please… It’s all J.K. and nothing hurts.I’ll write more when I come down from this nostalgia high and can think clearly. Friday June 1 2012Ok I think that I have sufficiently come down from the high of nostalgia that this book and the series it spawned gave me.I am no longer an eleven-year-old running around in a dressing gown pretending the wooden spoon that I stole from my mother is a magic wand. I am a 7feet tall hairy bloke with a beard and two wands. One a replica prop and the other a Kymera (Don’t judge me). And I have to say that, by no means is this book perfect (fellow Potterheads don’t kill me, I have a point to make). There are a few sections that could be padded out a little bit so that they don’t need as much explanation later. There are a few points where the wording could be better (yes I know I’m on the ropes here but please, I pray you, bear with me). But in the grand scheme of things does that really matter?When a series has sold (as of June 2011) approximately 450 million copies do a few little errors in the first of the series matter? Do they hell. What matters, like with most books (I say most because there are some where the errors detract so much it renders them unreadable), is the emotive connection. The manner in which the reader, in this instance me, is drawn into the world created by the author. OK yes, there will be those of you out there who will say that there are obvious comparisons between this and Lord of the Rings. Yeah? And? So what? Do these parallels detract from the sense of wonder at Harry’s world? Does it make you, if you’re a fan, want Hogwarts to exist any less?I don’t need to review this book, it’s been done to death. It’s loved, it’s hated, it’s been attacked by the church for having a gay headmaster and worshipping false gods. It’s been built up in the castles of the mind that are childhood memories by billions of readers worldwide. I’m not going to sway anyone’s opinion and I know this. But I also know that this is a tremendously fun read. And the storyline has such power, wonder and above all hope in it, that I can’t help but be transported back to good times in my past. That is the magic of nostalgia. And for me…That is the magic of Harry Potter.And with that, I will leave you with one thing, and one thing only...Mischief Managed